Lifting at home or alternatives

becsritfw

Hi all,

I love the idea of doing more weights and less cardio. I go to kettlebells once a week and do a variety of workout DVDs (Jillian Michaels, Insanity and T25). I like to do some cardio and I love combo dvds and I use small hand weights at home. Joining a gym isn't an option for at least another 18 months and I don't have space for any large gym equipment.

So my question is, should I get some heavier weights for home? Is there enough I could do with them without a bench or the machines they have at the gym? Or would I be better sticking to hand weights and doing more resistance workouts using my own body weight like those in Insanity? If I do get stuff for home then what would anyone suggest? (I'm in the UK)

Please help a confused weights newbie!

Thanks :-)

becsritfw

Bump :-)

JenMc14

If you don't have the space for a bench or a rack, I'd suggest getting some adjustable dumbbells or plateloadable ones. You can do all the major lifts with dumbbells, and you can just press from the floor instead of on a bench. While they tend to be in a higher rep range (10-14), Fitnessblender.com has some decent strength training videos. Otherwise, you could adapt a 5x5 or something to dumbbells.

IronSmasher

I'd recommend a gym, especially for someone new.

jacksonpt

Heavy weights, a bench, and some kind of rack or cage is ideal, but in absence of that, some good workouts can be done with body weight stuff (Convict Conditioning and You Are Your Own Gym are both pretty popular), especially for beginners. Adjustable dumbbells and/or resistance bands can also be very effective.

.

Iron_Lotus

I have a 3 bedroom apartment with 8 people living in it. I have no room for anything and I managed to fit a bench and squat stand. You just need a small corner to put it in. I think it is essential to have both of these if you are going to be strength training from home (my opinion) I also have adjustable dumbbells, a barbell, an ex-curl bar (not essential but for me helps with pain in forearms during certain lifts) and various plates of weights.

SpecialSundae

Hi all,

I love the idea of doing more weights and less cardio. I go to kettlebells once a week and do a variety of workout DVDs (Jillian Michaels, Insanity and T25). I like to do some cardio and I love combo dvds and I use small hand weights at home. Joining a gym isn't an option for at least another 18 months and I don't have space for any large gym equipment.

So my question is, should I get some heavier weights for home? Is there enough I could do with them without a bench or the machines they have at the gym? Or would I be better sticking to hand weights and doing more resistance workouts using my own body weight like those in Insanity? If I do get stuff for home then what would anyone suggest? (I'm in the UK)

Please help a confused weights newbie!

Thanks :-)

I got a folding bench, a barbell rated to 150kg and some weight plates at the beginning of the year and work out at home. Doesn't take up a huge amount of space (although I'm so obsessed that I've dedicated a room to them).

I did start out with just 20kg of adjustable dumbbells but within a few weeks I was needing more and more so bought a little over 100kg of weight plates. That's kept me going for about 9 months now, although I'm thinking of trading the lot in for a new Olympic bar and bumper plates.